Abstract / Description of output
The advent of sensitive sub-mm array cameras now allows a proper census
of dust-enshrouded massive star-formation in very distant galaxies,
previously hidden activity to which even the deepest optical images are
insensitive. We present the deepest sub-mm survey, taken with the SCUBA
camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and centred on the
Hubble Deep Field (HDF). The high source density on this image implies
that the survey is confusion-limited below a flux density of 2 mJy.
However within the central 80 arcsec radius independent analyses yield 5
reproducible sources with S(850um) > 2 mJy which simulations indicate
can be ascribed to individual galaxies. These data lead to integral
source counts which are completely inconsistent with a no evolution
model, whilst the combined brightness of the 5 most secure sources in
our map is sufficient to account for 30-50% of the previously unresolved
sub-mm background, and statistically the entire background is resolved
at about the 0.3 mJy level. Four of the five brightest sources appear to
be associated with galaxies which lie in the redshift range 2 <z
<4. With the caveat that this is a small sample of sources detected
in a small survey area, these submm data imply a star-formation density
over this redshift range that is at least five times higher than that
inferred from the rest-frame ultraviolet output of HDF galaxies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | ArXiv |
| Pages | 10273 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 1998 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- Astrophysics